No one thought that tragedy would strike at a certain player while at a poker tournament scheduled on September 1 Saturday at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
Mid-stakes poker pro Eric Thompson from Tulsa, Oklahoma suffered a heart attack at some point during a break in the inaugural event of the 2018 Oklahoma State Championship of Poker.
Tournament staff then decided to blind off his chip stack in the event instead of removing his stack from play. Later in the tournament a moment of silence was held for Thompson, also called "Big E" in the poker community.
Eric Thompson, age 49 (year 1969), first began cashing in on major poker tournaments since 2007. His biggest career win was when he won a 2014 Hold'em event at the Choctaw Casino Resort in Durant for $103,000. A banner in honor of his win still hangs in said casino. He accumulated $545,075 worth of live tourney scores throughout his poker career which put him in 19th place on the Oklahoma's all-time money list, according to The Hendonmob website.
In the WSOP Main Event this summer in Las Vegas, he made it to at least day 3. In a post he made on his Facebook page he said after he busted at the tournament, "Thanks for all the support everyone, Unfortunately, this will not be my year. On to the next one."
According to his player profile in the WSOP site, he has a total of 26 cashes worth $98,085.
He recently just had his birthday on August 20.
A funeral service was held for Thompson on September 7 Friday in El Reno, Oklahoma.
Source:
https://www.pokernews.com/news/2018/09/midwest-poker-player-eric-thompson-passes-31988.htm
